Arvanites (
Greek: Αρβανίτες,
Arvanitika: Arbëreshë or Αρbε̰ρεσ̈ε̰; see also
below about names) are a population group in
Greece of, ultimately,
Albanian origin who traditionally speak
Arvanitika, a form of
Tosk Albanian. They settled in Greece during the late
Middle Ages and were the dominant population element of some regions in the south of Greece until the 19th century.
[1] Arvanites self-identify as
Greeks, and in modern times have largely assimilated into mainstream
Greek culture.
[2][3]Arvanitika is
endangered due to
language shift towards
Greek and large-scale internal migration to the cities in recent decades.
Contents
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History
German ethnographic map of Greece, 1897
Arvanites in Greece originated from Albanian settlers who moved south at different times between the 11th and 16th century from areas in what is today southern
Albania.
[4][5] The reasons for this migration are not entirely clear and may be manifold. In many instances the Arvanites were invited by the
Byzantine and
Latin rulers of the time. They were employed to re-settle areas that had been largely depopulated through wars, epidemics, and other reasons, and they were employed as soldiers. Some later movements are also believed to have been motivated to evade
Islamization after the
Ottoman conquest. The main waves of migration into southern Greece started around 1300, reached a peak some time during the 14th century, and ended around 1600.
[6] Arvanites first reached
Thessaly, then
Attica, and finally the
Peloponnese.
[7]
In many instances, Arvanite groups placed themselves in the services of local Greek rulers who were descendants of Byzantine noble dynasties. During the 15th and 16th centuries, such groups were renowned as mercenaries, the so-called
Stratioti, serving in the armies of the
Venetian Republic. Some also fought in European armies further afield, like that of
Henry VIII of England. Many of them became bilingual and culturally assimilated to the Greeks.
[8] Arvanites also held positions in many Greek Orthodox churches. In 1697, Michael Bouas and Alexander Moscholeon not only chronicled their positions in the Greek Orthodox Church of
Naples, but they also professed their Greek identity.
[9]
German ethnographic map of the
Peloponnese, 1890. Albanian(Arvanitika)-speaking areas in red.
In areas such as Mesogeia, many Arvanitika-speaking populations did not see language as the defining criterion of their Greek identity. Their sense of identity relied upon their adherence to the
Greek Orthodox Church, their sense of localism with ties to the land, and their sense of kinship. All of these attributes had long served as cohesive elements of identity within the
Ottoman Empire, which provided the Arvanites the ability to establish a form of ethnic unity and a stronger form of Greek self-identification.
[10] Throughout the Ottoman period, the Arvanites always maintained their ethnic Greek identity, as well as their loyalty to the Greek Orthodox Church during their conflicts against the
Ottomans.
In the 17th and 18th century, Arvanitika-speakers of
Epirus constituted a prominent element in the establishment of the effectively independent state of the
Souliotes on the mountains of Epirus,
[11] which resisted Ottoman domination. During the
Greek War of Independence, many Arvanites played an important role fighting on the Greek side against the Ottomans, often as national Greek heroes. With the formation of modern nations and nation-states in the
Balkans, Arvanites have come to be regarded as an integral part of the Greek nation. In 1899, leading representatives of the Arvanites in Greece, among them descendants of the independence heroes
Markos Botsaris and
Kitsos Tzavelas, published a manifesto calling their fellow Albanians outside Greece to join in the creation of a common Albanian-Greek state.
[12] In 1903, Arvanites like Vangelis Koropoulis from
Mandra, Attica, participated in the
Macedonian Struggle.
[13]
During the 20th century, after the creation of the Albanian nation-state, Arvanites in Greece have come to dissociate themselves much more strongly from the Albanians, stressing instead their national self-identification as Greeks. They are reported to resent being called
Albanians.
[14] At the same time, it has been suggested that many Arvanites in earlier decades maintained an assimilatory stance,
[15] leading to a progressive loss of their traditional language and a shifting of the younger generation towards Greek. At some times, particularly under the nationalist
4th of August Regime under
Ioannis Metaxas of 1936–1941, Greek state institutions followed a policy of actively discouraging and repressing the use of Arvanitika.
[16] In the decades following
World War II and the
Greek Civil War, many Arvanites came under pressure to abandon Arvanitika in favour of monolingualism in the national language, and especially the archaizing
Katharevousa which remained the official variant of Greek until 1976. This trend was prevalent mostly during the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.
[17]
